deleted title-not e-cig related.

Just found this one out. but the new highway bill working it's way through congress at the moment has a nice 900% tax aimed at e-cigs hidden in it. They are not the only ones seeing a tax hike, but the one on e-cigs is the highest of the proposed hikes thrown in as a rider on the bill. Detailed tax info: Smokeless (electronic) cigarettes (a 900% increase) RYO (Roll Your Own) tobacco (a 250% increase) Little cigars (a 720% increase) Cigarettes (a 429% increase) just Cigarettes in general (a 429% increase)
Thought this is something that the community should be made aware of. The link to a petition against it on change.org is below. Looks like they are changing tactics on us, since they can't get their FDA pets to kill the e-cig, they're just going to try and tax it to death.

Just found this one out. but the new highway bill working it's way through congress at the moment has a nice 900% tax aimed at e-cigs hidden in it. They are not the only ones seeing a tax hike, but the one on e-cigs is the highest of the proposed hikes thrown in as a rider on the bill. Detailed tax info: Smokeless (electronic) cigarettes (a 900% increase) RYO (Roll Your Own) tobacco (a 250% increase) Little cigars (a 720% increase) Cigarettes (a 429% increase) just Cigarettes in general (a 429% increase)
Thought this is something that the community should be made aware of. The link to a petition against it on change.org is below. Looks like they are changing tactics on us, since they can't get their FDA pets to kill the e-cig, they're just going to try and tax it to death.

Does anyone have a link or a copy of the text that backs up this claim, because at the moment that is all it is.
I checked the petition page and there is no evidence offered there. Once I see it in writing I might believe it, but until then it's just another rumour with a headline designed to cause knee-jerk reactions.

Like the virus warnings that tell you a monster will wipe your hard drive and eat your children, does no-one bother to check the legitimacy of such claims before posting 'panic' messages or emailing them to all of their contacts?

Where exactly is all of this coming from in the bill?
There is nothing about a 900% tax increase on e-cigs that I can find, even cross referencing the Internal Revenue code (which is what the portion of the bill is supposed to ammend).

SEC. 100116. ROLL-YOUR-OWN CIGARETTE MACHINES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (d) of section 5702 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding
at the end the following new flush sentence:
‘Such term shall include any person who for commercial
purposes makes available for consumer use (including
such consumer’s personal consumption or use under paragraph (1)) a machine capable of making cigarettes, cigars,
or other tobacco products. A person making such a machine available for consumer use shall be deemed the per
son making the removal as defined by subsection (j) with
respect to any tobacco products manufactured by such machine.’’.

That is the only part that talks about tobacco or cigarettes. It doesn't even specify e-cigarettes.
And the only thing that part is talking about is removing a tax haven for people who make machines for people to make a tobacco product.

I just read the legislation. There is no provision that increases taxes on any of the above-mentioned products. In all sincerity, I think people should read legislation before determining that it is in any way going to affect them negatively. The legislation is available in PDF form at this URL address.

Here is the only part that mentions anything about cigarettes or tobacco:

SEC. 100122. ROLL-YOUR-OWN CIGARETTE MACHINES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (d) of section 5702 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new flush sentence:
‘‘Such term shall include any person who for commercial purposes
makes available for consumer use (including such consumer’s personal consumption or use under paragraph (1)) a machine capable
of making cigarettes, cigars, or other tobacco products. A person
making such a machine available for consumer use shall be deemed
the person making the removal as defined by subsection (j) with respect to any tobacco products manufactured by such machine. A person who sells a machine directly to a consumer at retail for a consumer’s personal home use is not making a machine available for
commercial purposes if such machine is not used at a retail premises and is designed to produce tobacco products only in personal
use quantities.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by this section
shall apply to articles removed after the date of the enactment of
this Act.

After reading through the document carefully, there is no other mention of tax increases on the above-mentioned products. Take care and have a wonderful day!